David Crystal “performance lectures” 1

David Crystal

(register) David Crystal (1941- )

“performance lectures” “performance lectures”

(Crystal 2009: 2)

And no script, either, for these lectures were not written down. They are what I call ‘performance lectures’. They are events in which the lecturer speaks spontaneously and at times dramatically, but in a pre-planned and structured way, about a subject. There are no notes, no handouts, no slides, no PowerPoint. The audience focus is entirely on the speaker, and the speaker focus is entirely on the audience. The aim is to achieve maximum speaker-listener rapport, without distraction. This can’t be done if half the audience’s attention is on a handout or a screen. It certainly can’t be done if they find themselves having to cope with PowerPoint karaoke.

1 A

19202015

The analogy is with the actor on stage – or, perhaps more accurately, with the stand-up comedian. However, the subject matter is different: the topics are factual and intellectual rather than fictional and comedic – though this is not to say that playful creativity and laughter are ruled out.

(stand-up comedian) The Future of Language (2009)

DVD 360

The Future of Language: The Routledge David Crystal Lectures Lecture 1: “The Future of Englishes” (FE) Lecture 2: “Language Death” (LD) Lecture 3: “Internet Linguistics” (IL)

(scripted lecture)

1 vs. 256 37

293

256 37

256 whose (“... any of the languages whoseliterature we know well.” LD) 1 255(personal) (non-personal)

wh- (who, which) that <zero>

(S) (O.v.)(O.prp.) (C)

2 who that <zero> S 38 3 0 41 O.v. 1 0 7 8 O.prp. 0 0 1 1 C 0 0 0 0

39 3 8 50

who 381

(1) The people who adopted English in these countries then said they would adapt it. (FE)

that 3

(2) And he thinks he’s the only person in the world that likes blue bottles. (ID) (3) You’re in the chatroom, and down the screen are scrolling messages from all the other people

that are in the chatroom, all over the world, maybe, you don’t know where they are. (ID) (4) And there are examiners and examining boards that are extremely worried about the way in

which all these abbreviations are turning up in exams and about the low grades that the kids are getting as a result. (IL)

(2) (3) (2) ‘the only’ ( ) (3) ‘all the other’ ( )

that 2

that wh- who

(4) ‘examiners’ ( ) ‘examining boards’ ( ) ‘boards’ ( )

who which (animacy) that

(principle of proximity) 2 ‘examining boards’ that

27 who 1

whom 1 who 1

(5) When I was last there, a couple of years ago, I asked everybody <zero> I met, “How many people do you estimate speak English in India now?” (FE)

(6) In many parts of the world, there are organizations, governments, who are concerned to crush minorities who they feel to be a threat to their own survival. (LD)

(5) (6) who feel whom who

3 feel“minorities who they feel are a threat to their own survival”

who

2 Cf. (2005: 187) the first, the last, the only, the very

all, every(thing), any(thing), some(thing), no(thing), none, little, few, much

3 Biber et al. (1999: 614-615) “While who can also occur with object gaps, this option is rare (and stigmatized in written texts)” “There’s a girl who I work with who’s pregnant.”

1

(7) What feedback am I getting from the person <zero> I’m sending the email to?

2.2.3.

3 which that <zero> S 33 64 1 98 O.v. 1 44 39 84 O.prp. 10 6 6 22 C 0 0 1 1

44 114 47 205

1 which that

which 33 that 64 that which 2which that

that which Biber et al. (1999:616) which

that 4

which that 1 ‘language’

4 Cf. Biber et al. (1999:616): “Stylistic association is another important factor, leading to marked register differences. Which has more conservative, academic associations and is thus preferred in academic prose: 70 percent of the academic texts in LSWE Corpus [=Longman Spoken and Written English Corpus] use which for restrictive clauses more commonly than that. In contrast, that has more informal, colloquial associations and is thus preferred in conversation and most contemporary fiction: 75 percent of the fiction texts in the LSWE Corpus use that for restrictive clauses more commonly than which.”

(8) English, of course, traditionally, is a stress-timed language, a language which goes ti-tum, ti-tum, ti-tum, ti-tum, ti-tum, where the stresses fall at roughly regular intervals in the stream of speech. (FE)

(9) If you were the God of language, looking down on the earth and cho… choosing a language thatwas going to be a global language, you wouldn’t choose English on linguistic grounds. (FE)

that 4 that

(10) If you trust the latest research that has been done into this matter, it seems that he spent one night with Gwyneth Paltrow. (FE)

(11) The only other country in the 19th century that was powerful enough to influence world economy was Germany. (FE)

(12) Think of all the irregularity in English spelling that has come from 600 years of influences from all other languages that have come into contact with it. (FE)

(13) Any language that is larger than any other language can, at some point or another, steamroll, if there is such a verb, the other languages out of existence. (LD)

which 1

(14) All those languages of southern Africa which use clicks, you know… [click sounds] that sort of thing, in order to… as vowels… as consonants. (LD)

‘all the’ there are

(15) And when you think of all the variations <zero> there are in the language, when you look at the house-style book of a publisher, you find that there are hundreds and hundreds of little rules and regulations that you have to follow. (IL)

there is/are 1 5 “That’s all there is to it.” (

)

5 Cf. (2005: 189).

3 which 1 that (44 ) (39 ) which

(16) Once upon a time, people like me used to get Christmas annuals in which there would be puzzles which you had to solve. (IL)

‘puzzles’ which

which

that Biber (1999: 621)

In all registers, the zero relativizer is strongly favored by the presence of a personal pronoun as subject in the relative clause. This is because most pronouns distinguish between subject (nominative) and object forms (e.g. I, she, he v. me, her, him), and so the presence of a subject pronoun unambiguously marks the beginning of a new clause. Thus, these pronouns provide a grammatical clue for the beginning of the relative clause, even without the relativizer:… In contrast, a full phrase can fill many grammatical slots and thus provides no indication of a clause onset. As a result, the zero relativizer is strongly disfavored when a full noun phrase occurs as subject of the relative clause.

(I, she, he, we, they vs. me, her, him, us, them)

2 ‘you’ that

4 that <zero>

11 5 3 1 30 34

4 that that

1 that

(17) It can change in the patterns of discourse that people have. (IL) (18) It’s the language that most people use most of the time in the corridors of power, unless you

bump into the French walking along that corridor. (FE) (19) And she trained these parrots to speak the syllables of the dead language that parrots from 200

years ago spoke. (LD) (20) But, just as one must respect the norms of standard English punctuation, and orthography

generally, and respect them in those circumstances, one must also respect the informality thatthe internet situation permits you to use. (IL)

(21) And the more languages, the better, because each language is a new, unique experience, a new way of structuring expression that no other language has got. (LD)

(17) people, (18) most people, (19) parrots from 200 years ago, (20) the internet situation, (21) no other language that

55 3 (22)

(22) Heineken refreshes the parts <zero> other beers do not reach. (FE)

206

6 Cf. Crystal (2009: 14. s.v. Heineken slogan): “There was some variation in the phrasing, over the years, but the original slogan was ‘Heineken refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach.’ (I say ‘do not’ in the lecture). It was devised by advertising copywriter Terry Lovelock in 1974. The slogan was rested in 1989, with the restorative theme replaced by ‘Only Heineken can do this,’ but it returned for a while in 1991 as fresh as ever.”

(23) Heineken refreshes the pirates <zero> other beers do not reach. (24) Heineken refreshes the pilots <zero> other beers do not reach. (25) Heineken refreshes the parrots <zero> other beers do not reach.

(23) (25) ‘parts’ ‘pirates’, ‘pilots’, ‘parrots’ ‘pirates’ ‘pilots’ (personal)

‘parts’ ‘parrots’ (non-personal) ‘other beers’

( The Future of Englishes )

It is the future of Englishes, not the future of English. And in order to see this future, one has to look at it, I think, from a cultural point of view. If I were to say next that we’re in a theatre here on Euston Road in London, and next door is the British Library, an organization that refreshes the parts other institutions do not reach, how many of you recognize the allusion? Hands up if you do. An organization that refreshes the parts that other organizations do not reach. Half of you have put your hands up. That might be an age thing. Because what I’m referring to is an advertisement series that began in the early 1970s and went on for 20 years, one of the longest-running advertising series in British advertising history.

(the British Library) “an organization that refreshes the parts other institutions do not reach”

2 that ( ) “An organization that refreshes the parts that other organizations do not reach.” DVD

2 1 that

“The Future of Englishes” that

2 that 31

3 (26) one, (27) nobody, (28) everybody that

(26) The impression that one gets that everybody speaks English is, of course, an impression upon one’s travels around the airport lounges and the promenades and the restaurants and so on of the world. (FE)

(27) And these were words that nobody had ever seen in English before. (FE) (28) Why do we need a global language? To talk to each other, to understand each other. For

countries with different language backgrounds to have a lingua franca that everybodyrecognizes. (FE)

(29) any (of you)

(29) And this is something <zero> any of you can do as an experiment. (IL)

3 that 30 34

that (30) (31) that

(30) I cannot even begin to repeat the kind of accent that she had. (FE) (31) And he spoke it in a very distinctively German sort of way, I mean, this is the sort of thing

<zero> he was saying all the time. (FE)

(9 )

(32) The lowest estimate <zero> I’ve seen in, in recent times…I’m talking in 2008…is something like 350 million, and the highest estimate <zero> I’ve seen in recent times is approaching 500 million. (FE)

(33) An analogy <zero> I like to use is that of a wardrobe. (IL) (34) The second thing <zero> we might try to do, though, is revitalize a language that is endangered.

(LD) (35) And the writing <zero> you saw was “What you see is what you get.” (IL)

I, we, you

3 22 which (10), that (6), (6)

<> “pied piping ” < … > “preposition

stranding”

5 which that <zero> < > 9 0 0 < … > 1 6 6

which that < > < … >

< >9 1

(36) So the next question is, how do you persuade people that language endangerment and language death is something to which they should contribute? (LD)

“something that they should contribute to” “something <zero> they should contribute to” < which>

87

(37) They had a campaign in which they wanted to persuade the lager-drinking world that if they drank Heineken lager, then they would be rejuvenated individuals. (FE)

(38) Once upon a time people like me used to get Christmas annuals in which there would be puzzles which you had to solve. (IL)

(39) If I were to ask you, “What is the fundamental property of the internet, and especially of the World Wide Web, without which it could not exist?” you’d think for a moment and then after a while I think you’d probably come up with the concept of the hypertext link. (IL)

(40) Let me talk first of all ab…, about the respects in which it is revolutionary. (IL)

(41) And there are examiners and examining boards that are extremely worried about the way in which all these abbreviations are turning up in exams and about the low grades that the kids are getting as a result. (IL)

(42) And when you think about the possibilities, the way in which spoken language is going to become a dominant feature of the internet over the next 20, 30, 40 years, you realize that there’s only one phrase that summarizes the relationship of linguistics and electronically-mediated communication, in relation to the future of language. And it’s… “You ain’t seen nothin’ yet.” (IL)

(43) They’ve always died since the beginning of language, one imagines, and if you look back at recorded history, you can see the extent to which death has taken place. (LD)

(41) (42) ‘the way in which’ (43) ‘the extent to which’

(44) Within a hundred years or so of the British Empire evolving, people were talking about English as “a language on which the sun never sets”. (FE)

(44) “a language on which the sun never sets” “an empire on which the sun never sets” ()

< … >which (45) 1

(45) And here is a sentence in the English language which they understood the grammar of, “Heineken refreshes the pirates other beers do not reach.” (FE)

(45) “a sentence … whose grammar they understood” ‘of which’ ‘of’

7 that which ‘sentence’ 1

8

that 6

7 whose / of which (2005: 184-185) Quirk et al. (1985: 1249-1250) 8 Cf. Quirk (1985: 1252): “When complex phrases or clauses intervene between the antecedent head and the relative pronoun, which is generally preferable to that and very much preferable to zero:…”

(46) And I guess I would be the same in America, not understanding the cultural background to a lot of slogans that are used over there, that might refer to baseball or anything that I don’t understand about. (FE)

(47) This is the 19th century <zero> we’re talking about now, really. (FE)

(48) And you do what you do, and the job of the copy editor is to consistentize your manuscript and, indeed, to present a house style that the publisher is confronted with. (IL)

(49) It sucks words in from every language <zero> it comes into contact with. (FE)

(46) (47) ‘about’ (48) (49) ‘with’ that

be 1 (50)

(50) That’s all <zero> it is.9 (FE)

(The Future of Language)

The Future of Language1 The Future of Language

(140 ) (“Cultural and usage commentary”) (“Activities in the classroom”)

( 40 )

67 6 2.2. 3

9 ‘robot’

I remember the first time I went to South Africa, and we were driving along, and a sign in front of us said, “Robot ahead.” (laughter) “Have they landed? (laughter) Robot ahead? What’s a robot?” say I to the driver. And he says, “It’s a traffic light.” “Yeah? That’s all. It’s a traffic light. Yeah?” A robot is a traffic light. That’s all it is. Wow. And it’s used in South African English, and also in Zimbabwe and areas like that. (FE)

6 The Future of Language:

which that <zero> S 33 64 1 98 O.v. 1 44 39 84 O.prp. 10 6 6 22 C 0 0 1 1

44 114 47 205

7 The Future of Language:

which that <zero> S 46 13 0 59 O.v. 3 5 17 25 O.prp. 10 0 1 11 C 0 0 0 0

59 18 18 95

that which

that

which that which

that (205 114 56%) which (95 59 62%)

2 that

Begat: The King James Bible and the English LanguageBegat: The King James Bible and

the English Language (2010) 50 (pp. 1-50)

8

8 Begat : The King James Bible and the English Language

which that <zero> S 35 12 0 47 O.v. 1 4 14 19 O.prp. 8 1 0 9 C 0 0 0 0

44 17 14 75

which which which (75 44 59%)

7

A Little Book of Language

A Little Book of Language (2010) 50 (pp.1-50) 10

9

9 A Little Book of Language

which that <zero> S 15 18 2 35 O.v. 0 10 39 49 O.prp. 3 1 2 6 C 0 0 0 0

18 29 43 90

which that3

7 8 that

(90 43 48%)

(scripted lecture) “On Anniversaries”

2009 9 27 (Cambridge University Press) 425

“David Crystal lecture”: http://www.sms.cam.ac.uk/media/651705 10

6010

10 “On Anniversaries”

which that <zero> S 11 10 0 21 O.v. 3 3 3 9 O.prp. 10 0 0 10 C 0 0 0 0

24 13 3 40

which that 3

10

http://english-chiba-u.jp/youtube/contents/74.html

which which (40 24 60%) A Little Book of Language

Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language

11

“David Crystal’s Blog” (http://david-crystal.blogspot.com/)

YouTube

Leech (2009) (pp. 226-235)

(colloquialization) wh- that

< >< … >

11 By Hook or By Crook: A Journey in Search of English (HarperCollins, 2007) Just a Phrase I’m Going Through: My Life in Laguage (Routledge, 2009)

(2005) Biber, Douglas, Stig Johansson, Geoffrey Leech, Susan Conrad and Edward Finegan (1999)

Longman Grammar of Spoken and Written English, Pearson Education. Crystal, David (2004) Making Sense of Grammar, Peasron Education. Crystal, David (2009) The Future of Language: The Routledge David Crystal Lectures, Routledge. Crystal, David (2010) A Little Book of Language, Yale University Press. Crystal, David (2010) Begat: The King James Bible and the English Language, Oxford University

Press.Leech, Geoffrey, Marianne Hundt, Christian Mair and Nicholas Smith (2009) Change in

Contemporary English: A Grammatical Study, Cambridge University Press. Quirk, Randolph, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech and Jan Svartvik (1985) A Comprehensive

Grammar of the English Language, Longman.